Sending the queen home

Last week in the search for heroic chess failures, I wrote about the difficulty spotting 'backwards moves', and mentioned Bronstein enthusing about a position where the White queen returned to d1 to deliver the knockout blow.

Malcolm Pein picks up on the same subject today in The Daily Telegraph: when to beat a retreat. This time it's the Black queen returning to d8, and Magnus Carlsen failing to find the stunning finish in his rapid game against Leko from the Melody Amber tournament.

Chess in the media

One of the things that struck me most when visiting South America was the status accorded to chess. Not only was the game played in the streets and parks, but the tournaments and players were given lots of column inches, often even front page, in the daily newspapers.

In the UK, commentators like Malcolm Pein in the Daily Telegraph do a sterling job, but are limited to small pieces buried deep in the paper. It seems that this is the case in the States as well, witness the recent pleading to save chess from Susan Polgar, ground-breaking player turned lobbyist and chess businesswoman, in her blog.

So, we're going to enjoy riding our wave of publicity at Chess Tales (TV, Radio and now Newspaper) and hope it's not our last. On the other hand, we might just all emigrate to Peru.